Constituent structure and government in phonology

TLDR

Phonology has shifted from segment‑internal to syntagmatic analysis through multi‑level representations, creating a need for a syntax of phonological expressions. The paper seeks to resolve empirical and conceptual problems in Universal Phonology by proposing definitions of possible syllable and possible word. The authors develop principles grounded in a unified theory of phonological government.

Abstract

Our aim in this paper is to address certain empirical and conceptual issues in the theory of Universal Phonology. Specifically, we will formulate a number of proposals aimed at characterising the notion ‘possible syllable' and ‘possible word'. The principles we will lay out follow from what we see as a unified theory of phonological government. The introduction of the notion of multi-levelled representations, as well as the recognition of constituent structure organisation in phonology, has allowed for a shift from mainly segment-internal, paradigmatic considerations to the study of syntagmatic relations holding between phonological units. What is now required is nothing less than a syntax of phonological expressions.